Southern Consciousness & Race

American historian Avery Craven devoted an entire volume of his ten part series A History of the South to The Growth of Southern Nationalism 1848-1861(LSU Press, 1953). In one of the most interesting parts of the book Craven described the enduring impact of the African upon the Anglo-Celtic South and how his presence contributed greatly to the racial consciousness of the Southern people of all social classes. Craven wrote:

[T]he planter and their slaves did not constitute anything like a majority in the South. The men who farmed a modest number of acres with the help of their families and a slave or two, if any, far outnumbered their more fortunate neighbors. But, like their kind in other sections, they generally aspired to the ways of the larger men and granted them leadership in public affairs. They were provincial in their outlook, suspicious of different ways and values, loyal to friends, and inclined to violence against those who offended. They were thus Southern to the core and quick to resent outside interference and criticism. Living in a section where color and slavery went together, they prized their white skins with more than ordinary zeal. They were race conscious. In color, and hence in the one sense that really counted, they were the equals of all other Southerners. Farms could grow into plantations. Common men of ability could reach high place in Southern life. Rural democracy was as much a reality here as elsewhere in America. Calhoun, James H. Hammond, Albert Gallatin Brown, Foote, Jefferson Davis, and others proved it.

This is a topic I discussed on the Rebel Yell podcast. The Vermont Question was a funny attempt to point out what has pozzed the overwhelmingly White people of that and other Northern States. From afar, and having no daily contact or historical experience with less developed races, it was easy to universalize New England Enlightenment values and moralize the struggle to liberate and elevate the Negro in the Southern States. Such was in start contrast to the Southern experience with the racial “other” and the world-view and politics this helped to create.

Craven’s work tends to support this perspective. He wrote of an important “background factor that contributed to the making of Southern unity.” The professor explained:

To this warmer, wetter, rural-agricultural section had early come the Negro. First he labored in the fields and then gradually took on also the tasks of servant and artisan. In race and in station he differed widely from those who profited by his toil. He formed a great undigested bloc in the social order. By 1850 there were something over 3,400,000 Negroes free and slave, in the South as against a white population of some 6,200,000. They thus constituted around 35 per cent of the total. Their very number gave them enormous significance; their personal qualities and their social status made them doubly important. Even as slaves they created a race question. Insurrections and fear of them, occasional lynchings, and hard regulations to check the Negro from wandering, assembling, and learning to read and write, all stressed the social dangers involved and the vigilance required if this was to remain “a white man’s country.” And all through the years close association in homes and on isolated farms and plantations wove the threads of black and white into a fantastic but enduring fabric of interdependence, affection, and understanding. …In ways too subtle to yield to words, he helped to make the South Southern.

We should keep in mind when reading this that Craven’s family was Quakers who left the South because of slavery. He was educated in Northern universities. His bias is quite obvious, however, his insight is also significant. The presence of the racial “other” helped enormously in building Southern racial consciousness.

Southern Unity Today

Politically Southern racial unity transcended classes and created the “Solid South” after emancipation. It was alive and well in the 1960s and 70s and exploited by establishment Republicans with their famed Southern Strategy. Even today we see the enduring impact of the South’s social values and racial attitudes. In the 2016 presidential election, for example, White people have been generally credited with giving Trump victory. Polling data supports this position, indicating that Hillary won only 37% of the White vote across the USA. Meanwhile, 88% of Blacks voted for Hillary. As a little investigation demonstrates, overwhelmingly, it was Southerners who gave Trump his victory and they did so in the face of a large opposition demographic that was united against them. Mississippi, for example, was only about 58% White in 2010 – surely less than that today. And the Black parts of the State went heavily for Hillary. But Trump won Mississippi with 58% of the vote. In the face of overwhelming Black opposition, if only a small part of the White population deserted ranks the Democrats would have carried the Magnolia State. But that didn’t happen. Southern racial unity held. The same story played out in other Lower South States with large Black populations. Georgia was just 59% White in 2010 (down from 71% in 1990). And yet Trump won the Peach State with 51% of the vote – even in a State heavily influenced by the metropolis of Atlanta and its large non-Southern population. Louisiana was 59% White in 2014 and Trump won the Bayou State with 58% of the vote.

Contrast Mississippi, Georgia and Louisiana with Vermont, which was 94% White in 2013. Hillary won the Green Mountain State with 56% of the vote. There was no White racial solidarity there for Trump to ride to victory. A similar story played out in other New England States. Massachusetts, for example, was 73% White in 2014 but Hillary won there with 60% of the vote. New Hampshire, often considered the most Right-wing State in New England, was 92% White in 2010. And yet Hillary narrowly won the Granite State. Even this supposedly conservative/libertarian New England State that is almost entirely White didn’t go for Trump.

New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Vermont – unlike Dixie – are mostly devoid of White racial solidarity. Why? They lack the experience with the racial “other” that shaped Southern historical experience and has made unity necessary for our very survival.

47 Comments

White people and culture is beautiful. We are civilized, advanced, intelligent, we believe in womens rights, free speech, we enjoy a drink after work with friends. We love animals and the environment.
Contrast this with negroes…..in Africa they want kill or remove people just because they are white. They are killing all the beautiful animals of Africa because the Chinese want their body parts for whatever reason. Have no concept of whats right or wrong or decent. Its up to the ‘racist’ whites to find cures for THEIR diseases.
Despite this, the governments of Europe and Australia are imposing these people on us at an alarming rate. They always need housing, welfare and special programs srt up for them ‘ so they feel included’- and all at taxpayers expense. Many of the locals are rightly sick of it.
Im predicting civil war in most white nations later this century as we come to realize we need to get out and do what our leaders have failed to do- that being standing up for their own and ensuring our future existence. The time will come where we need to take the wheel.
The white race is becoming the Titanic.

Its good to hear. Our concerns are legitimate and we need to be heard. the white percentage is decreasing everywhere we are. It should be a real concern for any reasonably minded person. If we don’t love, respect or defend ourselves…..nobody else will. Enjoy your day.

Nathan Bedford Forrest as a teenager:
One day Mariam (Forrest’s mother) and her sister were riding back home from a neighbor’s house
when a black panther began stalking them. When they slowed down to
cross a stream, the panther jumped from the bank onto Mariam’s back. She
managed to shake the panther off and return home. Bedford took care of
the wounds on his mother’s back, then grabbed his father’s rifle and the
family dogs to track the panther. After the dogs treed the panther,
Bedford waited until daylight so he would be able to see better, and
killed the panther.

Lots of symbolism here, when “black panthers” strike your people don’t stop hunting them until you can “see better” then kill them….

I would just like to point out that Boston is one of the most racially segregated cities I know of. The only coloreds you see at Fenway Park are the ball players on the field. The same goes for Gillette Stadium in Foxborough.

I can’t speak for the yankee States listed- because I’ve never been to NH, MA or VT, but I’ve lived in the Deep South 40+ years with extensive travel to rural OH, WV and PA.
I’ve noticed a distinct lack of white racial solidarity in the last 25 years here in Dixie. It’s impossible to go to a Walmart in the South today and NOT see a White, female mudshark with three mulatto babies in tow. However, on a recent hunting trip to rural OH, I saw few, if any, blacks in a weeks time- and not a single mudshark.
Just a personal observation over a period of time.

If you look at interracial statistics, Asian women are by far the biggest race-mixers. Something like 30% of Asian immigrant women intermarry. Asian women actually seek out white men. It’s more so their preference than white men seeking them.

They come after me and I rebuke them. No thanks, I’ll make my own fried rice. I want white children!

There is definitely NO White racial solidarity in North Carolina, Mr. Putnam.

As to race-mixing – it definitely goes on in the trailer parks, on the edge of town, but, all in all, most of our ladies do not want them, any more than their ladies want us.

In North Carolina, most young Whites have been trained by daddy-smart phone to hate racism, while the granddaddies still have it, and are embarrassed to talk about it – those in the middle wishing to avoid the subject as a whole.

Urbane Tarheel Whites, have been, as whole deracinated, or, at least, to such an extent it is a very different state than it used to be.

Here in Northeastern North Carolina,, in the smaller towns and rural environs, folks still live a voluntary Jim Crow – both Black and White preferring it that way.

Sir, I understand that western North Carolina is, for all intents and purposes, still part of the CSA. It is a very remote and rural area where the locals are hostile to the Federal regime and coloreds are not welcome. Is this true?

Nice piece. I had not really thought about different levels of white unity in different states. Interesting. I agree that those who have never been around Negroes are more likely to view them positively. I was “privileged” to attend grade schools with a significant minority of Negroes. Whites must practice racial unity like the POCs and the Juden do -and remember the Three Principles. https://putnamlibertynotes.wordpress.com/2017/03/06/the-three-principles/

Joe, not just I, but, a lot of small town rural Tarheels have good opinions of Negroes, though, many do not.

It depends on where you are.

Please bear in mind that where Negroes congregate, either in big city ghettoes, or in small towns, the result is noxious.

That said, in Eastern Carolina towns, where they are 20-50% of the populace, the situation is not bad – because there are enogh whites to buffer, administrate, and act as a sobnering influence of restraint.

Also, education and class are issues.

Where I live, Mr. Putnam,is a Negro college; a town which has a negro community of which many of the Black families have long been landed and owned businesses.

Propertied negroes, as they will tell you, are a whole different ball of wax than the property-less one who became the new welfare scion.

That said, what Mr. Owen said, right here, is right – until you know the males negroes, those without obvious grey hair, it would behoove you to be cautious, as enough are panhandling crooks and felonious breakers-in to warrant the caution.

Here in New England there are at least a few Negroes whose families can be considered part of the black elite. They can trace their lineage back to Colonial times and perhaps even to Crispus Attucks himself! They certainly don’t comport themselves the way that the coloreds in our Northern ghettos do.

One more thing, Mr. Putnam – it is not possible for the vast majority of whites to ‘practice racial unity like Jews’

Why not?

Because Jews, though the natural interrelations of Jewry is very divisive and confrontational. they learned this tribal loyalty by thousands of years of being a wee minority, in the diaspora experience.

White European descendants are not like that – they coming from millenai and millenia of sharp division, without a similar diaspora experience to unite them

Whites, as a rule, know nothing of what it takes to survive as a wee minority amongst others.

This is a cultural attribute, Jews have had to develop, imperfect that it is, and it is not possible for Whites to suddenly be that.

Whites have majority culture in their blood, and, thus, are used to being the home team.

Hello Mr. Daniel,
On second thought, I think that you do have a point about the Jewish mentality being ingrained from their multi-millennia minority status -something we Euros do not have. An English language and western Euro based tribal unity might be the closest that all American whites can get.

While the dilemmas of The White Man in his lands has been accepted, in recent year, by a growing minority, the vast majority of Whites would take tremendous exception, if you speak to them along these lines.

Furthermore, even if there were no such obstacle, there still remains the fact that some very clever and aware folks cannot just snap their fingers, at what needs to be done, and have it so.

It’s a serious situation, which, though I reckon all the folks, here at OD, readily understand, is going to require some divine intervention.

I think Trump’s election was a sign that He is answering, because to the extent that President Obama was bugging, tapping, and having Trump, and all his henchmen investigated – in order to destroy – it’s a miracle he won.

Back to the divine intervention : I say this because President Trump has got down to business at a clip I’ve never seen, and I’ve been watching a good long while, but, the situation in Washington, and in the culture is so bad, it’s hard to see how one president and his administration can handle it – even if the had the courage to do what ought be done – such as closing down all immigration, ASAP.

Look at the situation of England and Scotland. English are far more exposed to negros (and many other minorities as well) so have been more Rightist in their views. The Scots intil recently had very little multi culti exposure thus were more progressive. In their defense, it was a case of ‘ why hate or judge what we never see?’. Scotland has changed in recent years with hordes of Pakis, Negroes and Asians now cramming their cities- I was there briefly and saw it, so I’m guessing it will result in them waking up and realizing whats happening in front of them. Instead of the anti- English BS they’ve had for years, they need to turn their attention to the real enemies- that being the future Jihadists, gangsters and rape apes.

The South has been so influencet by the presence of the African that it is simply not possible to think of it without him – if you are going to be honest.

Still, the central dilemma is the fact that, when Negroes take over a town, it goes to straight hell; but, when they are a minority in a town, they make good contributions that are worth their weight in copper.

Jim Crow was not a great system, but, it was about the best our daddies could think of that would allow us to mitigate the negative influences of the Negro community, while allowing for enough flexibility for those numerous exceptions of outstanding individual Negroes to shine.

The system that took it’s place is a vast improvement for certain individual Negroes and Whites, whilst being bad for a majority of both.

It seems to me that a 3rd system could be evolved, at least in North Carolina, and that this would be an improvement.

What would that system be?

In my mind it would be just as we are – but, dropping off Affirmative Action statutes, and, most importantly, the welfare subsidies; this so that the one half of Negroes who have forgotten a godly labour can get gainfully occupied again.

In North Carolina, we have always believed that, for anybody of any race and class … ‘Idleness IS The Devil’s Workshoppe.

Lastly, once welfare goes, many idle-addicted Negroes will gravitate to Blue Socialist states, at which time, those who remain will be the ones who are contributing, and, being smaller of number, they won’t be effective for government rabble-rousers to use as a political weapon.

Why didn’t President Johnson (Andrew Johnson, that is, not the traitorous LBJ) send the darkies back to Liberia after the War between the States? Was it not Mr. Lincoln’s intention that they should be repatriated?

Dear Mr. Cushman – I believe that, in your analysis of racial solidarity of New England, you may have forgotten to think that, in voting for the anti-White Miss Hillary, they were voting to maintain their government over us.

Most Northeasterners reacted to Donald Trump like they did at George Wallace – that he was an affront to the very being,

Because of your age, , you may not remember this, but, when George Wallace ran for president, he received a lot of small-town and rural White support from the Midwest and the West, but, NOT, New England.

In this, you can go back to the election of 1828, and see that, though Andrew Jackson did manage to carry New Hampshire (the black sheep of the region) he did NOT carry the rest of New England – this being that he was perceived as a crass Southern lunatick.

Identity is definitely a tricky question. It’s pretty much indispensable to have a cultural rallying point to bring people together, and it will be more essential in the future when matters grow even more Balkanized in the U.S.

Speaking as a Former Yankee (more or less, though I never had the Yankee mindset), I can see two main cultural threads in the current USA — there’s a bit of a Southern Nationalist/Confederate culture and, however dimly, kind of a “Western” culture which is at least the seed of an identity. (I’m not talking about the Left Coast here, either.)

However, I can’t really see any distinct identity left in New England, in the sense that would help preserve some part of Legacy America. There are a lot of whites there, but the majority are generic urban leftists who would fit into practically any socialist country in the world with a language change. If/when the current system breaks up, what is going to happen to these numerous but identity-poor people?

Experiencing actual racial GROUP behavior, and not that of exceptional black individuals to the right of the curve, certainly reinforced already innate ingroup Southern behavior I have no doubt. Just like reproducible evidence is needed by science. However, the South’s core is about blood and soil nationalism and the South’s unique culture and dialect more so than just black slavery. In that historical context the Yankee was the other as well.